The power of eunuchs in the late Tang Dynasty was even greater than that of Liu Jin and Wei Zhongxian in the Ming Dynasty. Wei Zhongxian could only rely on the carpenter emperor as a blessing, and the eunuchs of the Tang Dynasty saw that the emperor was not pleasing to the eye, and directly killed the emperor and established the emperor. Tang Xianzong and Tang Jingzong were both killed by eunuchs. The reason for this is that after the Anshi Rebellion, Tang Dezong appointed eunuchs to take charge of the Forbidden Army, the Divine Strategy Army, and became customized, and since then the eunuch power has become irrepressible and the power has become more and more powerful!
In the second year of the Baoli calendar (826), Tang Jingzong was killed by the eunuch Liu Keming, and another eunuch, Wang Shoucheng, made Emperor Wenzong emperor. Originally, Wang Shoucheng felt that Emperor Wen's personality was cowardly and easy to control, so that they could take charge of the government, but they underestimated the temptation of power, and even the most temperamental emperor was not willing to be a puppet and be at the mercy of others! Moreover, according to the previous situation, Emperor Wen was at risk of being killed at any time!
The ministers Li Xun and Zheng Zhu knew that Emperor Wenzong had the intention of rebellion, so they took the initiative to defect to Emperor Wenzong and plotted to destroy the eunuchs. Speaking of Li Zheng, both of them were also introduced by the grand eunuch Wang Shoucheng, but the two had greater power ambitions, although you are my eldest brother, kill you, I am the eldest brother! Emperor Wen thought that there was such a good thing, every day he was bullied by these eunuchs, the atmosphere did not dare to come out, and he had to accompany the smiling face, when was this day a head? I didn't expect that you had two anti-bone boys under your hands, and they wanted to help me do it off, so why not enjoy it? So I quickly agreed.
Emperor Wenzong soon promoted the two to prime ministers and took power. In the ninth year of Taihe, Emperor Wenzong used Li Xun's plot to kill chen Hongzhi, a eunuch who had participated in the killing of Tang Xianzong, and soon gave Wang Shoucheng death with Li and Zheng's plot. Originally thought that killing two eunuchs would eliminate the eunuch dictatorship, but I didn't expect that these guys would form a group, kill one, and come out again, anyway, it was not Emperor Wen's turn to take power. It seems that they must be exterminated! So the three of them summed up and set a plan a.
Plan a: Li Xun and Zheng Zhu discussed that Zheng Zhu should take up his post in Fengxiang and select hundreds of brave soldiers, each carrying a white stick and carrying a sharp axe as a soldier. The two agreed that when Wang Shoucheng was buried at the imperial court, Zheng Zhuquan asked Tang Wenzong's approval to lead troops to escort the funeral, so he could take his relatives and entourage. At the same time, Emperor Wenzong was asked to order all eunuchs below the lieutenant of the Shen Ce Army to go to the river to pay tribute to Wang Shoucheng. At that time, Zheng Zhu ordered the tomb door to be closed, and ordered his soldiers to slash and kill the eunuchs with sharp axes, and all of them were exterminated. The plan was perfect, and if it had been implemented in that way, it would have been successful. As a result, Li Xun suddenly thought: No! In this way, the credit is not all Zheng Zhu, I am busy before and after nothing to fish, no! So I thought about it and drew up plan b, which was launched before plan a. This plan b is the "change of ganlu", this plan is known only to a few of Tang Wenzong and Li Xun's cronies, and Zheng Zhu and other civil and military officials and other people are not aware of it.
On the twenty-first day, Tang Wenzong went to the court as usual, and the great general Han Yousong of Zuo Jinwuwei said: "On the pomegranate tree in the backyard of Zuo Jinwu Yamen, last night I found that there was manna descending, which was a sign of auspicious rui, and last night I reported to the emperor through the eunuch guarding the palace gate. Then while dancing, he congratulated the emperor, and the hundred officials also clapped their asses together! Li Xun took the opportunity to persuade the emperor to see it for himself, and Tang Wenzong happily agreed. So he led the hundred officials of the civil and military forces and the great eunuchs around them to watch together, and when they arrived at the Hanyuan Palace, the emperor asked the hundred officials to take the lead first, and Li Xun led the hundred officials to go back and report: We have seen, is it manna, I am not sure, the emperor don't rush over, let the eunuchs around you go to see, everyone work together to staff the staff, they know more.
Tang Wenzong knew that this was about to start. Let qiu Shiliang and Yu Hongzhi, lieutenants of the left and right Shen Ce Army, lead the eunuchs to the backyard of Zuo Jingo again. The eunuchs didn't think much of it and went.
Seeing that the time was ripe, Li Xun hurriedly summoned his subordinates Guo Xingyu and Wang Fan and said, "Come and receive Your Majesty's holy will!" Unexpectedly, Wang Bian was a provocateur, so nervous that his legs were shaking all the time, and he was stunned that he couldn't walk, and only Guo Xingyu went to pick up the will. At this time, hundreds of private soldiers recruited by the two men were all armed with weapons and stood outside the Danfeng Gate waiting for orders. Li Xun sent people to summon them to the Hanyuan Hall to accept Tang Wenzong's order to remove the eunuchs. As a result, only the Hedong soldiers led by Guo Xingyu came, and the Ning soldiers led by Wang Fan did not come.
Qiu Shiliang led the eunuchs to follow Han Yue to Zuo Jinwu's backyard to inspect the manna, and on the way he saw Han Yue sweating nervously and his face was very ugly. Qiu Shiliang was still puzzled, so he asked, "General Han, what's wrong with this?" Isn't mo sick? Han Yue was suspicious, and he left an eye on qiu Shiliang. After a while, a gust of wind blew up the tent in the courtyard, and Qiu Shiliang suddenly saw many soldiers with weapons in their hands, and heard the sound of weapons colliding. Qiu Shiliang and the others were horrified and hurriedly ran outside, and the soldier guarding the door was trying to close the door, and Qiu Shiliang shouted: Get out of the way for me! You want to rebel?
It was also the eunuchs who were usually too powerful, and the soldiers were so frightened that they did not dare to close the door. The eunuchs ran all the way to the Hanyuan Hall, knelt in front of Tang Wenzong and said: Emperor, things are not good, there is a mutiny inside! The emperor hurried back to the palace with us!
Then, involuntarily, several people carried Tang Wenzong to the palanquin, lifted the palanquin and ran. Don't look at the eunuchs who are usually pampered, when it is really time to die, you can also run fast with a palanquin!
When Li Xun saw this, he pulled the palanquin and said, "I haven't finished playing for the emperor here, and the emperor can't leave!" At this time, Luo Liyan, under Li Xun, led more than 300 soldiers and soldiers from Jingzhao Province who were on patrol duty to rush from the east, and Li Xiaoben led Yu shitai's entourage of more than 200 people from the west to climb the Hanyuan Hall and kill the eunuchs. The eunuch was bleeding profusely, killing and wounding more than a dozen people.
The other eunuchs carried Emperor Wenzong's soft palanquin all the way north and ran lifelessly. Li Xun grabbed the soft car all the way, and the shouting became more urgent. The eunuch Xi Zhirong punched Li Xun in the chest, and Li Xun fell down on all fours and eight forks.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Tang Wenzong's soft palanquin was carried into xuanzheng gate, one of the gates of the harem, and then the eunuchs closed the gate with the guards. After the door was closed, the eunuchs were almost exhausted, lying on the ground one by one and gasping for breath! It's finally safe!
Li Xun saw that Tang Wenzong had entered the harem, and his heart was finished! Attacking the city gate is equivalent to rebellion, their own soldiers do not have the courage, even if they dare, their own people and horses, there is no siege equipment, attacking such a strong city gate is also in vain. So he changed into the green uniforms of the entourage officials and fled on horseback. The people and horses under his hands lost their main bones and scattered and fled.
The civil and military officials did not know what was happening, and they all looked at each other, waiting for the emperor to come out and explain the situation. Qiu Shiliang and other eunuchs knew that Tang Wenzong was also involved in Li Xun's conspiracy, and they were angry. We helped you to the emperor's seat, and you actually wanted to kill us! Something without conscience! One by one, they burst out scolding in front of Tang Wenzong. Tang Wenzong was ashamed and afraid, and did not dare to make a sound.
What are the eunuchs so annoying? Dare to move the soil on the head of the age, let you know how powerful! Qiu Shiliang and others ordered Liu Tailun and Wei Zhongqing, deputy envoys of the Left and Right Divine Strategists, to each lead five hundred soldiers and rush out from the Zichen Hall with swords and blades to fight against the thieves. A group of soldiers were killed when they saw people in the government affairs hall, and the poor vast majority of officials did not know what was happening, and they were killed.
Qiu Shiliang also ordered the division of troops to close the gates of the palaces, search the gates, and arrest the thieves. As a result, more than a thousand officials and guards, as well as the people and merchants who were selling alcohol inside, were all killed, and their bodies were in disarray and bloodied. The great seals of the divisions, maps and household registration archives, the curtains of the yamen and office tools were destroyed and looted.
After Shu Yuanyu, the prime minister, changed into civilian clothes, a man escaped from Anhua Gate on horseback and was chased and arrested by the cavalry. Prime Minister Wang Ya walked to a teahouse in Yongchangli and was arrested by the forbidden soldiers. After Wang Fan returned to his home in Changxingli, he closed the door and defended himself with recruited private soldiers. When they reached his door, they deliberately shouted loudly: "Wang Ya and others are plotting rebellion, the imperial court intends to appoint you as the prime minister to suppress the rebellion, and lieutenant Yu Hongzhi of the escort army sent us to greet you!" Wang Bian was overjoyed and immediately came out to meet him, but he was easily caught. This old brother's IQ is also involved in the mutiny, and it is also more than enough to fail! The hooligans in the city also took the opportunity to avenge their personal vendettas on weekdays, killing people at will, plundering the property of merchants and people, and even attacking each other, so that dust was everywhere and the sky was covered.
Li Xun, the mastermind behind the scenes, had always been close to the monk Zongmi of Zhongnan Mountain, so he went to defect, but the people did not dare to accept him. Joke! Who will take you in and not wait to be killed? So he wanted to go to Zheng Zhu, but he was captured halfway and escorted back to Beijing.
Li Xun was afraid that he would be severely beaten and insulted after reaching the Divine Strategy Army, so he said to his escorts: "Whoever catches me will be rewarded and rich!" I heard that the forbidden army is searching everywhere, and they will definitely take me away. Why don't you kill me and send my head to the capital!" The person escorting him felt that it made sense, so he cut off Li Xun's head and sent it to the capital. Soon Zheng Zhu and his cohorts were also killed.
With Li Xun's first rank, the Divine Strategy Army guided Wang Ya, Wang Fan, Luo Liyan, Guo Xingyu, Jia Biao, Shu Yuanyu, and Li Xiaoben to sacrifice taimiao and taishe. Then, in the east and west cities, they paraded the streets and ordered hundreds of officials to go to watch. Behead them under the willow tree in the capital city, and hang their heads outside the Xing'an Gate to show the public. The relatives of Li Xun and others were all killed, regardless of whether they were old or young. Wives and daughters who are not dead shall be confiscated as officials and slaves. Since then, the "change of manna" has ended in failure!
A hastily made plan, a group of unreliable subordinates, a farce full of loopholes, doomed to failure from the beginning, but many innocent people lost their lives for it!
What was the end of Emperor Wenzong of Tang? The eunuchs did not kill him, after all, this was just a man of great ambition and cowardice, and killed him, what if the new emperor was stronger than him? So Tang Wenzong lived like a prisoner under the oppression and surveillance of the eunuchs. At the age of nearly 31, he died of an illness with infinite sorrow. After The death of Emperor Wenzong of Tang, the eunuch clique continued to control the emperor's life and death and abolition until 903, when the powerful minister Zhu Wen exterminated them. However, with the withdrawal of the eunuch clique from the stage, the national fortunes of the Tang Dynasty will also come to an end, and four years later the Tang Dynasty will be replaced by Zhu Wen Hou Liang.